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4/11/12

Ride Home 4/10 & Ride In 4/11: Harrison Ford Dealership

Here's what I recall of yesterday's ride home:
I left work earlier than usual, but the roads didn't seem any emptier. Apparently, the evening rush hour starts around 3:30.
I was still sort of tired from the morning ride. Since my normal modus operandi (latin for one of those spells they use in Harry Potter) is to exert myself as little as possible during my bike commute, I have a pretty good sense of when I've overdone it and I guess I overdid it yesterday morning. Nothing that I couldn't get through because bicycling downhill isn't that difficult.
I couldn't clip in. Like at all. I wear bike shoes on my commute, mostly because I own them and I keep my work shoes at work (size 22 red ones, in the same locker with my rubber nose and seltzer bottle) and since I'm changing shoes anyway, why not wear bike shoes for the bike trip? For the most part it works out fine, but yesterday I was having difficulties.
I saw a driver who was just downright reckless, speeding and weaving and changing lanes without signaling and tailgating and just being generally insane. It actually brought out a reaction the opposite of the one that I would have expected to have, that of gratitude that most drivers aren't like that at all. Getting along with Cars is easy; it's the drivers that are tricky.
I rode through Dupont Circle and down Massachusetts to 15th and then took the cycle track the rest of the way. I was cut off by a right-turning driver, but I saw her in advance and knew enough to stop ahead of time. I turned my head to make eye contact with the driver behind her, so as to indicate that I'd prefer that the second driver not do the same as the first. I just wanted to make sure that she saw me. I apologize if it came off like glaring.
The Tunisian Embassy is unattractive.
My bell ringing on Pennsylvania Avenue caused a mom to lurch out, grab her kid and point in my general direction, thereby warning him of my presence. It seemed a tad over-dramatic, but I guess I appreciated it. For what it's worth, I was planning on running him over. Or not so much. Contrary to popular belief, not all bicyclists are out of control menaces to society.
Tahini can be very difficult to find in the grocery store. Where would you look first? I went to the international section, but that was wrong. Then I worked my way over to the baking area (even though that doesn't make any sense) before realizing that it might be with the peanut butter, which is where I eventually found it. And that's my story about looking for tahini at Safeway.
And here's what I recall of this morning's ride in:
It was cold and I wore gloves, but I didn't wear heavy socks and there was a gap between the top of my socks and bottom of the tights I wore under my shorts. I expected the cold to keep away the bike commuters, but first Bikeshare station I saw was pretty empty, so that shows what I know. I've been bike commuting for years and I still have no sense of when other's are going to do it.
Fellow bicyclists, I implore you to come to something resembling a complete a stop before turning right, especially if that right turn is going to be in my path. It's not a merge situation. It's a "you stop and then turn after I go past" situation. Maybe I'm just crazy for thinking that one of the things that we should aspire to is to not antagonize our fellow commuters. Though it's stuff like this that reminds me that no modeshare has the monopoly on self-centered jerks.
Sure was windy on Pennsylvania Avenue. Uncomfortably so. Less windy on 11th, which is my new favorite street in all of DC. If there were bike lanes on it from Penn to Mass and then in the gap from Rhode Island to Florida, it'd make me so happy. Like, I'd buy the whole bike team at DDOT lavish presents. (Note: definition of "lavish" may vary)
I think I saw more CaBi commuters today than non-CaBi commuters. I don't know if this represents some kind of tipping point.
I saw two guys on 11th who had loaded their bikes with front and rear panniers and it looked like they were going on some long bicycling touring adventure. I wanted to break a bottle of champagne on their bikes to 'christen' them, but that might not be a good idea. Bon voyage. (When hipsters take cruises, you say Bon Iver.)
That was a very short skirt and I think I saw more than was intended.
Oh, I forgot to mention last week that I fixed my water bottle and I can take coffee on my bike again. So, that's been great. I mean, the coffee itself is mostly just ok because I fill it with sugar and 2 percent milk and we're sort of using not great beans, but it's still better to bring coffee with you in the morning than to not. It's very sophisticated.
Do crossing guards have any obligation to suggest that people follow the law related to crossing the street? Like, is he duty-bound and shirking his obligation or am I ascribing to him more authority than is suggested by the Crossing Guard Oath? "First, do no harm. Second, wear a reflective vest"
Traffic was backed up on Massachusetts as a dump truck tried to maneuver its way into the South African Embassy construction zone. DOOM. Like, 45 seconds worth of doom, so I think everyone was ok.
The "Killer Pedestrian Problem" bus ads are remarkably stupid. My idea for a bus ad is this "Don't kill anyone with your car. Drive carefully." I'm the Don Draper of pedestrian safety. After seeing the bus, a little bit farther up the road, a turning driver cut me off as I pushed my bike into the crosswalk. He waved, as if to say "my bad." That's cool, though I probably would've just preferred that he waited.
Who is going to have his campaign signs up longer: Pete Ross or Vincent Orange? Sign pollution is a real thing and it's a blight on our neighborhoods. I should start a voter initiative to ban campaign signs. We can replace them with candidate's advertising on sweaters for dogs. That way, you can get your message out and dogs can wear people clothes. It's a win-win.

Is it possible that Cabi riders are part of a Borg-like collective? I watched one of those moving dot videos of Cabi riders and I think they are all under some sort of central influence. I don't ride Cabi. I'm afraid I'll end up like one of the dots, bouncing from station to station endlessly. Then I'll fall off and find myself in upper Northeast wondering how I got there. Then Rod Serling walks up to me...

Tahini, much like marshmallows and ice cream cones need their own aisle of misfits in the supermarket. I once spent 15 minutes looking for marshmallows. Is it baking, no, coffee/tea, you're kidding me, candy, if not there, where? I actually gave up, and on my way out of the store there was a promotional display of smore's ingredients near the register. AAUUUGH!

Was at Trader Joe's looking for Tahini, and they directed me of all places to the refrigerated case where they had a "Tahini sauce" which seems like a whipped watered down version, but it worked fine in the baba ganoush I was making. My dog votes for sweater advertising!